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F 159 
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Copy 1 



Lancaster Townstead. 



HOW, WHEN AND WHERE LAID OUT 
BY THE HAMILTONS IN J 730. 



THE HAMILTON ANCESTRY AND COAT OF ARMS. THE 

GROUND RENTS, THE MARKET HOUSES AND THE 

PUBLIC SPRING. THE POPULATION AT 

VARIOUS PERIODS. 



By S. M. SENER, Esq., 

SMember of Lancaster Bar, Lancaster County Historical Society, 
and Penna.-German Society, 



LANCASTER, PA. 
J90J. 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Receiveo 

JUL. 5 1901 

COFVRIOHT ENTRY 

CLASS <*-XXe. N«r. 
COPY B. 



Copyright, May, 1901, 

BY' 

S. M. Sener. 



LANCASTER TOWNSTEAD. 



"Out upon Time! It will leave no more 
Of the things to come than the things 

before." 
On February 6, 1729, the settlers in 
tlie back districts of Cliester county, of 
the province of Pennsylvania, prayed 
the Council of the province for a divi- 
sion of the county and the formation 
of a new county. This was approved 
February 7, 1729. Action was promptly 
taken, the Council acquainted the As- 
sembly, then in session, and the peti- 
tion was approved by them and signed 
by the Governor, May 10, 1729. The 
first Courts of the new county were 
held at Postlethwaite's.near the Cones- 
toga creek. The county seat was 
moved, May 1, 1730, to Lancaster 
Townstead, which had been surveyed 
by John Jones, for James Hamilton, 
in March, 1730. 

Brief of Title. 

On May 15, 1730, Andrew Hamilton 
and Ann, his wife, for the considera- 
tion of five shillings, conveyed two 
lots of land for the use of the county, 
viz.: One for the Court House site and 
the other for the County Prison site. 
At the same time they conveyed a lot, 
120 feet square, for the site for a pub- 
lic market house in the newly laid out 
town. The Court House lot was 66 
feet square and in the centre of the 
town; the Prison lot was on the north 
side of West King street, and extended 
from Prince to Water street. The 
Prison lots were numbered 273 and 
274 on the Hamilton plan. Lots Nos. 
654 and 655 were set aside for maga- 
zine lots for the storage of powder, etc. 

On April 13, 1682, William Penn 
granted to Richard Wooler, of Gold- 
inghame, England, five hundred acres 



within the province of Pennsylvania, 
there being a one shilling quit-rent on 
every hundred acres. Dawson Wooler, 
son, only child and heir of Richard 
Wooler, conveyed the land to Samuel 
Arnold, of London, on May 28, 1714. 
James Steel purchased a patent for this 
land on February 7, 1732, and declared 
that the thirty-one pounds and ten 
shillings paid for it belonged to An- 
drew Hamilton, of Philadelphia, and 
asked that his name be inserted in the 
patent, but the names of both Steel 
and Hamilton were inserted in the 
same. The land was surveyed in 1733. 
On May 1, 1734, James Steel and An- 
drew Hamilton conveyed the tract to 
James Hamilton for five shillings. 
When the land was conveyed, the 
court house, jail and several other 
buildings had already been erected on 
the tract. This tract embraced the 
centre of the town and the northwest- 
ern section. 

On November 13, 1717, Thomas and 
Richard Penn issued a warrant to 
Henry Funck for 350 acres, who gave 
200 acres to his son, Henry, one of 
whose heirs, John, conveyed it to the 
Hamiltons in 1747. This embraced 
the southeastern section of the town. 

A tract was also patented to Theo- 
dorus Eby, in 1717,and his heirs sold it 
to Hans Musser in 1739. Dr. Adam 
Simon Kuhn had purchased 15 acres 
from Hans Musser on September 17, 
1744. These tracts of land were laid 
out into lots and known as Mussers- 
town and Adamstown. The lots were 
disposed of by lottery in November, 
1744. James Hamilton purchased the 
ground rents and balance of lots of 
Adamstown from Dr. Kuhn on March 
7, 1749; when Musserstown was pur- 
chased by James Hamilton is not 
known. 

On December 31, 1717, William 
Penn's Commissioners, Richard Hill, 
Isaac Norris and James Logan, con- 

(4) 



anc/ lanc/s Co/7/-/Qt/OOS 
Ataye/nlfer 8':P/7S3. 



iJOHH 



BeMAMIffffSKWeY 




veyed unto Micliael Shank and Henry 
Pare (Bare) four hundred acres of 
land in Spring'town Manor, Chester 
county, for forty pounds,the land being 
located on the north side of the Cones- 
toga creek. The tract had been sur- 
veyed October 24, 1717. Henry Bare 
sold his moiety to Michael Shank on 
December 12, 1729, for 170 pounds, and 
Michael Shank, on May 29, 1731, sold 
106 acres of the tract to Samuel Bethel. 
Samuel Bethel died about 1741, leaving 
two children, Samuel and Mary, inter- 
married with Samuel Boude. Parti- 
tion proceedings were begun in 1751 
between Samuel Bethel and Mary 
Booide, his sister, in which Samuel got 
possession of the land, which, in 1763, 
he laid out into Bethelstown, said 
Bethelstown 'being located in the south- 
ern end of the town.What to-day(1901) 
is known as Bethelstown, located 
in the vicinity of Manor and Straw- 
berry streets and Love Ijane, being 
laid out later by Samuel Bethel on lots 
which he had purchased from James 
Hamilton. The partition proceedings 
are recorded at Lancaster in the Pro- 
thonotary's office, in Partition Book 
No. 3, at page 1. The deed to Michael 
Shank and Henry Bare is recorded at 
Philadelphia, in Book A, Vol. 5, at 
page 275, etc. 

"House of Lancaster." 
Lancaster was named after Lancas- 
ter, Capital of Lancashire county, 
England, the English town being 
named after the "House of Lancaster," 
which term was used to designate the 
line of kings immediately descended 
from John of Gaunt, fourth son of 
Edward III. But the title goes back a 
century further to the reign of Henry 
HI., who created his second son, Ed- 
mund, First Earl of Lancaster, in 1267. 
From the House of Lancaster the rival 
House of York sprang into existence. 
Edmund, the first Earl of Lancaster, 
differenced his father's arms of Eng- 
land with an azure la'bel of France, 

(6) 



charged with a golden fleur de lis, to 
denote his French alliance. John o£ 
Gaunt differenced with an ermine iobe, 
derived from the ermine shield of 
Brittany. The Plantagenet Dukes of 
York charged each point with three 
torteaux, derived from the Shield of 
Wake. 

Henry, the second son of Edmund, 
differenced the English arms with an 
azure bendlet across the shield. The 
seal of Henry, A.D. 1350, has the figure 
of an angel above the shield and a 
lion on each side of it as supporters. 

The seal of Thomas, second Earl of 
Lancaster, A. D. 1320, differed some- 
w'hat from the above. 

Matilda of Lancaster had as armorial 
bearings; to the dexter, a shield dis- 
played of Dedburgh— or.; a cross gu.; 
to the sinister, a shield of Ufford— or.; 
a cross engrailed sa., containing a fleur 
de lis for difference; in base, a loz- 
enge of deChetworth.barrulee, arg.,and 
gu.; an orle of martlets sa., and in chief 
a lozenge of Lancaster. 

The rose of Lancaster was a red 
rose; the rose of York, a white rose; 
and by intermarriage, the red and 
white roses became the "red and 
white" of the Tudor family, and was 
borne as a badge by Henry VIL, to 
symbolize the union of the factions of 
Lancaster and York by his marriage 
with Elizabeth of York. Scott refers 
to this as follows: 

"Let merry England proudly rear 
Her blended Roses bought so dear." 

The swan, when blazoned "proper," 
white, with red beak and legs, was the 
badge of the Bohuns and their de- 
scendants, the Lancastrian Plantage- 
nets. 

The colors of the House of Lancas- 
ter were white and blue. 

The "S. S. S." on the Lancaster col- 
lar represented the word "Sover- 
aygne," the motto of Henry IV. 

(7) 



The references to the arms of the 
House of Lancaster are taken from 
"English Heraldry," pages 136, 150, 
155, 167, 182, 183 and 247. 
The Hamiltons. 

Andrew Hamilton was born in Scot- 
land, in 16V 6, and of his early history 
and parentage but little is known 
other than that he was a descendant 
in direct line from Sir Gilbert Hamil- 
ton. He had evidently been involved 
in some political difficulty at the Eng- 
lish Court, for, when he came to this 
country, he went for awhile by the 
name of Trent. He first located in 
Virginia, and subsequently in Kent 
county, Maryland. He married a widow 
by the name of Preeson, whose maiden 
name was Borwn. In 1712 he went to 
England, but returned a few years 
later, and located in Philadelphia. He 
was appointed Attorney General of 
Pennsylvania in 1717, but resigned in 
1726, and in 1727 was appointed Pro- 
thonotary, a vacancy having occurred 
through the death of Mr. Asheton. 
Later he was appointed Trustee of the 
Loan Office, and, while such, in com- 
pany with Messrs. Graeme and Law- 
rence, designed and built Independ- 
ence Hall. He was in the employ of 
the Proprietary Family from the time 
he came to Philadelphia until his 
death. He became owner of large land- 
ed estates in Philadelphia, known as 
"Bush Hill," which comprised the 
space from Vine to Coates streets and 
from Twelfth to Nineteenth streets, 
and on many of the lots of this tract 
ground rents are still collectible. 
While practicing law his most promi- 
nent case was the defense of John Peter 
Zenger, indicted in New York, in 1735, 
for libel. He died at Bush Hill in 1741. 
In 1848 the remains of himself and 
family, including the last one of the 
name, were interred in a handsome 
mausoleum in Christ churchyard, in 
Philadelphia. 

His children were James, Andrew 
and Mary. James Hamilton was twice 

(8) 



Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, 
and the one who laid out Lancaster 
into lots and sold them. Andrew Ham- 
ilton, the other son, acquired land in 
Lancaster, Easton, New Jersey, and, 
through his wife, the property known 
as "Woodlands," in Philadelphia; also, 
property in Philadelphia, bounded by 
Chestnut, Third and Dock streets. On 
many of the properties in Lancaster 
and Easton ground rents are still col- 
lectible. He married Ann Fell, a 
daughter of William Fell, and their 
children were William and Andrew. 
William never married and Andrew 
married a Miss Abagail Franks, of 
New York. Andrew Hamirtdn; "' who 
married Ann Fell, is the one who 
deeded the town site of Lancaster to 
his nephew, James Hamilton. 

Mary, daughter of the first Andrei' 
who came to America, married William 
Allen, Chief Justice of the Provincial 
Courts, and a daughter of theirs mar- 
ried John Penn, son of Richard Penu. 
Mary Ann (Hamilton) Palairet was 
a daughter of Andrew Hamilton, the 
third in line, who had located in Eng- 
land, and her heirs to-day, along with 
a few others in this country, are the 
parties to whom the ground rents col- 
lected in Lancaster are payable. 
The Hamilton's Anns. 
William Hamilton, who collected the 
rents later, was also a nephew of An- 
drew Hamilton. William Hamilton 
left nephews, James and Andrew Ham- 
ilton, who collected the ground rents 
in the beginning of the Nineteenth 
Century. The Hamiltons were entitled 
to bear Arms, which are described in 
the "American Ancestry," page 84, as 
follows: Gules, three cinque-foils, or.; 
crest, out of ducal coronet, argent, an 
oak tree, penetrated transversely in the 
main stem by a frame-saw proper, the 
frame gold, upon the blade, the word 
"Through," sable. "English Heraldry," 
pages 151 and 152, states that this de- 
vice is commemorative of the escape 
into Scotland in 1323 of Sir Gilbert 

(9) 



Hamilton. At the Court of Edward II. 
Sir Gilbert had unadvisedly expressed 
admiration for Robert Bruce, on which 
John le Despencer struck him. Despen- 
cer fell in single combat the next day, 
and Hamilton fled, hotly pursued, 
northward. Near the border he and a 
faithful esquire joined some wood-cut- 
ters, assumed their dress, and com- 
menced working with them on an oak 
when the pursuers passed by. Hamil- 
ton, saw in hand, observed his esquire 
anxiously watching their enemies as 
they passed and at once recalled his at- 
tention to his woodman's duties by the 
word "Through," thus at the same 
time appearing to consider the cutting 
down of the oak to be far more im- 
portant than the presence of their pur- 
suers. So they passed by, and Hamil- 
ton followed in safety. This device 
does not appear on the Hamilton seals 
until long after the days of Bruce and 
his admirer, Sir Gilbert Hamilton. 
The Ground Rents 

The ground rents of Lancaster com- 
menced in 1735, the tract of land hav- 
ing come into possession of James 
Hamilton in May, 1734, and he having 
laid out the town site as stated above. 
As noted above, James Hamilton left no 
direct heirs and William Hamilton col- 
lected the ground rents and sold lots 
after his death. The property was held 
by the law of entailment and the title 
In fee simple was not made out until 
1815, when it was under the tenure of 
James and Andrew Hamilton, the prop- 
erty being then freed. 

Between 1825 and 1831 the citizens of 
Lancaster thought they were being 
imposed upon by a number of fictitious 
parties representing that they were au- 
thorized; to collect ground rents, and 
the ground rents so represented 
amounting to thousands of dollars in 
the aggregate, they remonstrated, and 
on May 30th, 1831, held a public meet- 
ing in the Market House to take some 
action in reference to the matter. A 
committee was appointed, but the sub- 

(10) 



ject matter was abandoned, and John 
Eeauclere Neuman and James Lyle, of 
Philadelptiia, were appointed trustees, 
and Emanuel C. Reigart, of Lancaster, 
was their agent to collect the rents, 
subsequently Jacob and Peter Long 
were trustees, and then Jacob M. Long 
was agent and afterwards trustee. 

From 1S15 to 1830 Horace Binney, 
Esq., of Philadelphia, had been trustee. 
In the latter year partition proceedings 
were had between Mary Ann Hamilton, 
infant daughter of Andrew, the third 
in line, against Horace Binney. Mary 
Ann Hamilton married Septimus Henry 
Palairet, of Bath, England, who was a 
Captain of Her Majesty's Twenty-ninth 
Regiment of Foot, which fact is shov/n 
by an examination of the power-of-at- 
torney to George Cadwalader, Esq., of 
Philadelphia, dated June 8, 1843, and of 
record at Lancaster in Letter of Attor- 
ney Book, No. 5, at page 178. George 
Cadwalader was also attorney-in-fact 
for George Gregory Gardiner, et al., of 
Bath, England, also heirs of the Hamil- 
tons. (Evidenced in the deed from him 
to Gerhart Metzgar, dated March 31, 
1845, and of record at Lancaster in 
Deed Book X.,Vol. 7,at page 494).These 
and a few others to-day (1901) are the 
beneficiaries of the ground rents of the 
Hamilton estate. The present trustee 
for collection of rents and sale of lots 
is Henry Lively. 

In early times the payment of four- 
teen years' ground rent at one time 
was sufficient to extinguish the same, 
but in later days, and now (1901), it 
was increased to twenty- years' pay- 
ment at one time. 

The Churches. 

Among the lots sold by the Hamil- 
tons were a number to the different re- 
ligious denominations located in Lan- 
caster in its early days, as follows: 

German Reformed, lots Nos. 75 and 
76, 7 shillings rent on each. 

Moravian, lots Nos. 212, 213 and part 
of 218, 7 shillings on each. 

(H) 



Episcopalian, lots Nos. 34, 35 and 36, 
7 shillings on each. 

Lutheran, lots Nos. 49, 50, 51 and 
part of 48, 7 shillings rent on each. 

Catholic, lots Nos. 235, 236 and 237, 
30 shillings rent on No. 237 and 7 shil- 
lings on the other two. 

Quakers, lots Nos. 138 and 139, 7 
shillings rent on each. 

Presbyterian, lots Nos. 19 and 491, 
20 shillings rent. 

Methodists, lots Nos. 97 and 98, 20 
shillings on each. 

Franklin College, lots Nos. C69, 670, 
671 and 672, 60 shillings on each. 

Many of the Hamilton deeds for lots 
■will he found by consulting Book A, 
"Volume 6 and Book I, in the Re- 
corder's Office, at Lancastsr. Pa. 

Hickory Town. 
In 1729, when Lancaster county was 
laid out, John Wright, Caleb Pearce, 
Thomas Edwards and James Mitchell 
were the Commissioners to lay out the 
same, John Wright surveying it. Con- 
siiderable trouble arose as to the loca- 
tion of the county seat, some contend- 
ing that it should be Postlethwaite's, 
and others that it should be on the 
Hamilton tract, which was generally 
known as "Hickory Town," or "Gib- 
son's Pasture." "Hickory Town" was 
so called from a large hickory tree 
under which the Indians were wont to 
assemble in their intercourse with the 
Proprietors or their Commissioners. 
A man named Gibson, who apparently 
was a "squatter," lived in a cabin near 
the spot. There were a number of 
large swamps, one being prominently 
known as the "Black Swamp," in the 
tract embraced within the proposed 
town site. The hickory tree is sup- 
posed to have been located on East 
King street, a few doors from Penn 
Square. The Commissioners above 
mentioned filed their report on Febru- 
ary 19, 1730, Edwards excepting. The 
report was finally adopted as to the 
town site, and was confirmed May 1, 

(12) 



1730, the town site being then located 
where it now is; two miles square.with 
streets running nearly north and south 
and due east and west. 

Lancaster Townstead was chartered 
as a borough on May 1, 1742, and in- 
corporated as a city on March 20, 181S, 
John Passmore being its first Mayor. 
In 1777 the borough corporation, de- 
riving its existence from the authority 
of the Crown of Great Britain, became 
upon the Declaration of Independence 
of Pennsylvania from the Crown, im- 
mediately dissolved, and the General 
Assembly, with the Hon. Thomas 
Wharton, President of the Executive 
Council, re-established on June 17, 
1777. New officers were appointed and 
a new seal adopted. 

Population. 
The following is the population of 
Lancaster from 1790, when the first 
census was taken, to 1900, as furnished 
by the Secretary of the Interior, at 
Washington, who has charge of the 
census records: 

1790 3,373 

1800 4,292 

1810 5,405 

1890 6,G63 

1830 '^.699 

1840 8.417 

1850 12,369 

1860 17,603 

1870 20,233 

1880 25,769 

1890 32,011 

1900 41,459 

A fine portrait of Andrew Hamilton, 
the second,by Wertrauller, copied from 
a rude original, which was destroyed, 
was owned by Mr. Becket, of Philadel- 
phia, and a copy of it is in the posses- 
sion of the Historical Society of Penn- 
sylvania. 

The Market Site. 
On January 14, 1851, the materials 
in the following properties were sold 
by the city to clear the site of the 

(13) 



market houses, the sheds which were 

first erected being supplemented by 

the present handsome structure in 

1889: 

Forney's building, 22x27 feet..$ 360.00 

Printing office, 24x23 feet 150.00 

Mrs.Wolf's property,17x27 feet 290.00 

Mrs. Wolf's stable, 24x18 feet. 85.00 
J. Jungling's property, 40x27 

feet 420.00 

J. Jungling's stable,28xl6 feet. 85.00 

Hager's property, 20x30 feet.. 260.00 
Reichenbach's property, 21x31 

feet 185.00 

Reichenbach'sframe shop, 20x13 

feet 35.00 

Adjoining hose house, 26x18 

feet 56.00 

Adjoining hose house, 22x29 

feet 70.00 

Total $1,996.00 

The land had been purchased from — 

J. Jungling's lot and house $ 6,250 

Mrs. S. Wolf's lot and house...? 3,300 

C. Hager's lot and house 3,000 

J. W. Forney's lot and house.. 3,700 
G. W. Reichenbach's lot and 

house 16,600 

Total ?32,850 

The old sheds cost $8,042.43, the late 
John Sehner being superintendent of 
the building operations. The present 
structure cost $27,000. 

The first market house erected was 
on High street (West King), and of 
this building there are no records ex- 
tant. In 1798 the building was en- 
larged by the addition of a superstruc- 
ture for the use of Lodge No. 43, F. 
and A. M., Gottlieb Sehner being the 
builder. 

The Public Spring. 
Part of lot No. 730, located on Mul- 
berry street, which is described as 
being bounded by lot No. 731 on the 
north, by an alley on the south, on the 
east by an alley, and on the west by 
Mulberry street, contained a reserva- 

(14) 



tiou to the effect that "a line be drawn 
so as to form a triangle at a spring by- 
cutting off ten feet from the eastern 
and ten feet from the southern bound- 
aries of said lot, which spring and 
angle shall be and remain forever for 
the use of the inhabitants of the bor- 
ough." This the Hamiltons evidently 
intended should be used as a public 
spring, and no doubt gave the name, 
"Spring Garden street," to Mulberry 
street, by which name it was known in 
early days. The historian and anti- 
quarian to-day ask, "Where is that 
spring?" but they ask in vain. The 
old deed for the city market stated that 
it should be "used as a market place 
forever." Both "market house" and 
"spring garden" have outlived the pur- 
poses for which they were created, and 
have been swallowed up in the "Greater 
Lancaster," which has taken the place 
of the "Lancaster Townstead" of the 
Hamiltons. 




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